Taiwan’s president says future will not be decided by ‘external forces’

President Lai says Taiwan’s future is up to its people as the island faces Chinese and US headwinds.Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te said the future of Taiwan should not be decided by “foreign forces” but is instead in the hands of its 23 million citizens.Speaking on the second anniversary of his inauguration on Wednesday, Lai said his goal as president continued to be maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan-strait" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="5508" data-entity-type="location">Taiwan Strait – the 180km (112-mile) waterway dividing Taiwan from China – and to prevent “external forces” from altering the island’s political status quo.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Bodies of Italian divers recovered from cave in Maldiveslist 2 of 4Republican Thomas Massie who stood up to Trump defeated in Kentucky primarylist 3 of 4China’s Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin hold talks in Beijinglist 4 of 4Arsenal fans erupt after team secures Premier League crownend of listThe president said he was still willing to engage with Beijing, which cut off communication with Taipei in 2016, but only through “orderly exchanges” based on the principles of “equality and dignity”.Taiwan is a responsible member of the international community, not a “party that undermines stability”, he also said, in an apparent swipe at Beijing.China’s Taiwan-affairs-office" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="6513" data-entity-type="organization">Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday accused Lai of inciting “cross-strait confrontation” by supporting “Taiwan-independence" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="127684" data-entity-type="topic">Taiwan independence” in remarks coinciding with his anniversary.The office’s spokesperson, Zhu Fenglian, said Lai “peddles separatist fallacies” while using a narrative of “democracy versus authoritarianism” to describe the Taiwan-China relationship.Zhu also accused Lai of ignoring the wellbeing of the Taiwanese public to pander to “external forces attempting to ‘seek independence through foreign aid’ and ‘seek independence through force’.”Lai has faced a tumultuous 24 months as president, with pressures from both inside and outside Taiwan, including from traditional ally the United States.